Marriage confers important rights and obligations on spouses. One of the rights is that of the surviving spouse’s rights in the deceased spouse’s estate. In California, couples prior to marriage and during marriage can agree that the surviving spouse waive certain inheritance rights in a deceased spouse’s estate (Probate Code sections 141-147). Upon divorce, a […]
posted on: September 28, 2022
Read MoreFor many people when it comes to estate planning, the challenging part is deciding the right way to transfer property to loved ones. A house is not only a significant investment, but is also tied to many memories and emotions. A commonly asked question is, how to leave your home to your kids. Unfortunately, there […]
posted on: September 22, 2022
Read MoreThere is a common misconception that estate planning and legacy planning are the same things. Alternatively, some people assume that you can use one and ignore the other. As much as they are different things, they go hand in hand. Both of them are aimed at making arrangements for the future in case of death […]
posted on: September 22, 2022
Read MoreThe surviving spouse has important estate administration duties at the death of the first spouse to die (i.e., “the deceased spouse”). These sometimes go neglected until the surviving spouse dies. The surviving spouse needs to examine how the deceased spouse’s assets are titled. Real properties may be held by a husband and wife as tenants […]
posted on: September 8, 2022
Read MoreSufficient proof of a person’s identity, such as a state issued driver’s license, is needed in many situations related to estate planning and estate administration. Consider, for example, notarizing estate planning documents, obtaining a medallion signature guarantee to transfer securities, opening a bank account, obtaining possession of legal documents, and receiving an inheritance. Let us […]
posted on: August 26, 2022
Read MoreAdministering a decedent’s probate or trust estate can involve unforeseen challenges. Let us consider two probate scenarios where title to real property that belonged to the decedent was nonetheless titled outside of the decedent’s name and presented a challenge as to how to title the real property into the estate. Also, let us consider a […]
posted on: August 11, 2022
Read MoreWills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney, and Advance Health Care Directives all appoint persons to act in a fiduciary (legal representative) capacity. What do such appointments mean to the person(s) named to act? What happens if such persons fail or decline to act? Can the planning appoint alternative representatives? A will nominates someone to act […]
posted on: July 28, 2022
Read MoreProtecting and preserving assets in a decedent’s estate may require important actions to be taken soon after the decedent’s death and before a general probate administration commences. For example, if the decedent’s estate includes investment or business assets were owned by the decedent individually, and not jointly or inside a trust and/or business entity, e.g., […]
posted on: June 29, 2022
Read MoreAdministration of a decedent’s probate or trust estate may include sizable financial investment assets (e.g., brokerage accounts) and/or cash assets (e.g., bank accounts). Brokerage account values change constantly and may include assets too risky and inappropriate given the administration. The administration will need to determine how much cash is needed to pay debts of decedent, […]
posted on: June 9, 2022
Read MoreAppraisals are often an important and expensive part of administering a decedent’s estate, whether it is a probate or a trust administration. Appraisals provide the date of death asset values used to compute probate administration fees (for the administrator and his/her attorney) and to prepare federal and state income and estate tax returns, when […]
posted on: May 26, 2022
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